Microbial production of nitrous oxide coupled with chemical reaction of gaseous nitrous oxide

ABSTRACT

A bioreactor designed to produce N 2 O from organic nitrogen and/or reactive nitrogen in waste is coupled to a hardware reactor device in which the N 2 O is consumed in a gas phase chemical reaction, e.g., catalytic decomposition to form oxygen and nitrogen gas. 
     Heat from the exothermic reaction may be used to generate power. The N 2 O may alternatively be used as an oxidant or co-oxidant in a combustion reaction, e.g., in the combustion of methane. The bioreactor may have various designs including a two-stage bioreactor, a hollow-fiber membrane bioreactor, or a sequencing batch reactor. The bioreactor may involve Fe(II)-mediated reduction of nitrite to nitrous oxide.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/799,677 filed Apr. 28, 2010, which claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application 61/214,892 filed Apr. 28, 2009 and from U.S. Provisional Patent Application 61/328,431 filed Apr. 27, 2010; this application also claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application 61/456,620 filed Nov. 9, 2010, all of which are incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to devices and methods for removing nitrogen compounds from waste using bioreactors. More specifically, it relates to coupling bioreactors to hardware devices that react nitrous oxide from the bioreactors.

BACKGROUND

With a global warming potential (GWP) 310 times greater than CO₂, N₂O is an extremely potent greenhouse gas (GHG). Models of various emission scenarios worldwide published by the IPCC have suggested a steady increase in N₂O production through the 21st century. The impact of such great levels of N₂O would result in a significant increase in atmospheric heat retention.

In addition to N₂O, other forms of reactive nitrogen also pose a great threat to the environment. Human alteration of the nitrogen cycle via the Haber process, intensive crop cultivation, and fossil fuel use has approximately doubled the rate of nitrogen input to the terrestrial nitrogen cycle. Loss of this anthropogenic nitrogen to natural systems has led to an array of environmental and public health problems, including ammonia toxicity to aquatic life, eutrophication of nutrient limited natural water bodies, oxygen depletion, and vast dead zones in the ocean margins. It is thus apparent that approaches to N₂O mitigation must be accompanied by strategies to control reactive nitrogen to natural environments.

The traditional objective of wastewater treatment is to achieve complete conversion of nitrogen compounds in waste to N₂ gas. This is accomplished by oxidizing the nitrogen to nitrate then reducing the nitrate to N₂. N₂O gas is not deliberately produced, but is often incidentally generated at levels that are low but still problematic for greenhouse gas emissions. Due to its negative environmental effects, researchers have never attempted to maximize N₂O production rates. To the contrary, researchers have instead focused on minimizing or eliminating N₂O production in these processes.

Domestic wastewater contains organics and reduced forms of nitrogen (organic N and ammonia) present as soluble and particulate forms and at relatively low concentrations. For the biodegradable organic matter, energy is often recovered as methane using anaerobic consortia of bacteria and archaea. These microorganisms oxidize waste organics, releasing the electrons and hydrogen as methane gas. Bioreactors designed for methane fermentation are common throughout the world, with applications that range in scale from simple low-rate household systems to sophisticated high rate industrial processes. The majority of these anaerobic bioreactors are “digesters”, because they have as a major design objective the reduction and stabilization of biomass for disposal.

Bioreactors are also used for nitrogen removal. Their function is to accelerate different steps in the nitrogen cycle, so as to prevent the harmful effects of N discharge: ammonia toxicity to fish, eutrophication, nitrate harm to infants, and dissolved oxygen depletion. In conventional systems, nitrogen is processed as shown in FIG. 3A. Ammonia is oxidized to nitrate, a two-step process termed nitrification that requires 2 moles of O₂ per mole of N. This oxygen is added by aeration, a process that constitutes about half of the operating expense of a wastewater treatment plant. The rate-limiting step in nitrification, the oxidation of ammonia to nitrite, is catalyzed by two distinct groups of microbes—the ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and the newly discovered ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA). Most nitrite is then oxidized to nitrate by several distinct groups of nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB), but under some conditions, particularly under low O₂ concentrations, AOB (and possibly AOA) emit N₂O in a nitrite reduction process termed nitrifier-denitrification. Nitrate nitrogen resulting from nitrite oxidation may then be denitrified to N₂, a step requiring 5 moles of electrons per mole of N. In conventional systems, the electrons needed for denitrification come from organic matter, decreasing the number of electrons that can be routed to methane production. Denitrification also results in the production of large quantities of waste microbial biomass for disposal.

Over the last decade, innovations in N removal (i.e., the SHARON, OLAND, use of anammox bacteria, CANON processes) have occurred in European labs. These innovations exploit new understanding of microbial ecology so as to “short-circuit” the nitrogen cycle. The result is a significant decrease in the requirements for O₂ and reducing power. An example is the CANON process (Completely Autotrophic Nitrification Over Nitrite) illustrated in FIG. 3B. In this process, partial oxidation of ammonium to nitrite by AOB under bioreactor conditions that select against NOB is coupled to the anaerobic oxidation of ammonium to N₂ by anammox bacteria. The anammox bacteria convert nitrite and ammonium to N₂ gas through a hydrazine intermediate that apparently avoids N₂O production. In principle, this process can achieve a 62% decrease in oxygen and a 90% savings in reducing power, but it is handicapped by the slow growth rates of the anammox bacteria, with doubling times on the order of 10-12 days. Other such innovations can dramatically alter the energy budget for wastewater treatment both by decreasing the energy invested for aeration and increasing the energy recovered as methane. As yet, however, no method of nitrogen removal enables direct energy extraction from the waste nitrogen itself.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In contrast with conventional wastewater treatment systems designed to avoid or at least minimize N₂O production, embodiments of the present invention couple a bioreactor to a hardware converter device in which the N₂O is consumed in a gas phase chemical reaction. Surprisingly, it is desirable for the bioreactor to have higher, rather than lower,

N₂O production. Thus, in one aspect, a method is provided in which a waste stream containing nitrogen compounds is pumped into a bioreactor system and processed to produce nitrous oxide, which is then formed into a gas stream. In a hardware device coupled to the bioreactor system the nitrous oxide gas is then chemically reacted in gas phase, producing energy. For example, the gaseous nitrous oxide may be chemically decomposed to form oxygen and nitrogen gas, or the gaseous nitrous oxide may be an oxidant in a combustion reaction. One of the most striking features of the N₂O decomposition reaction is the fact that the product of the reaction is a mixture of ⅓ oxygen and ⅔ nitrogen—enriched air—plus energy. It is therefore a perfect producer of clean energy.

The bioreactor system may have a single or multiple reaction stages. In some cases, a first stage of the bioreactor system is aerobic and a second stage of the bioreactor system is anoxic.

In some embodiments, the effluent is passed from the second stage of the bioreactor through an ultrafiltration membrane module to produce a low N effluent and an organism effluent; and recycling the organism effluent back into the first stage of the bioreactor.

In some embodiments, the bioreactor has an oxic region and an anoxic region, and may include recycling effluent from the anoxic region to the oxic region, and injecting a dissolved oxygen solution into the oxic region.

The processing in the bioreactor system may involve coupled partial nitrification and nitrifier denitrification. This may be implemented, for example, in a hollow-fiber membrane bioreactor or a sequencing batch reactor. The bioreactor may be operated in an anaerobic period and an aerobic period, where the anaerobic period may include selection for organisms that generate intracellular storage products (e.g., glycogen and PHB).

In other embodiments, the bioreactor may be a micro-aerated bioreactor performing simultaneous nitrification and denitrification.

In some embodiments, the bioreactor performs nitrification and methane-driven denitrification.

The processing of the nitrogen compounds to produce the nitrous oxide may include abiotic Fe(II)-mediated reduction of nitrite to the nitrous oxide and Fe(III); and regenerating Fe(II) from Fe(III) using iron-reducing bacteria.

Alternatively, the processing in the bioreactor system of the nitrogen compounds to produce the nitrous oxide may include microbial reduction of nitrite to nitrous oxide using organics as an electron donor, e.g., using acetate or polydroxyalkanoate granules from Alcaligenes faecalis.

As another alternative, the processing in the bioreactor system of the nitrogen compounds to produce the nitrous oxide may include microbial oxidation of ammonia coupled to Fe(III)-reduction followed by abiotic reaction of nitrite with Fe(II) to nitrous oxide, e.g., using Feammox bacteria to couple ammonium oxidation to nitrite with reduction of Fe(II) to Fe(III).

In the hardware device, the gaseous nitrous oxide may be decomposed in various ways such as catalytically, thermally by external heating, or through exothermic decomposition. The nitrous oxide may also be used as an oxidant or co-oxidant in a combustion reaction, e.g., in the combustion of methane.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a flow diagram illustrating an overview of steps in a preferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a coupled bioreactor-catalytic converter system according to one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3A is a schematic illustration of a conventional technique for microbially processing nitrogen.

FIG. 3B is a schematic illustration of a more recent known technique for microbially processing nitrogen.

FIG. 3C is a schematic illustration of a technique for microbially processing nitrogen according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 shows energy reactions and organisms involved in aerobic nitrification-denitrification along with N₂O decomposition according to one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5A is a schematic diagram of a gas stripping column for separating N₂O dissolved in an effluent to produce gaseous N₂O according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5B is a schematic diagram of a gas separation device using pervaporation for separating N₂O dissolved in an effluent to produce gaseous N₂O according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a device for concentrating N₂O in a gas stream according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 7 is a graph of energy vs. reaction progress for the decomposition reaction N₂O→½O₂+N₂+82 kJ, contrasting the thermal dissociation with the catalytic dissociation as employed in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a hardware reactor device for performing catalytic decomposition of the nitrous oxide according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIGS. 9A-C are schematic diagrams illustrating three systems which may be used to implement several embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 10A is a schematic diagram of a hollow fiber membrane bioreactor design according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 10B is a graph illustrating the variation in the concentration of products and reactants with respect to the longitudinal distance along the axis of the hollow fiber membrane bioreactor shown in FIG. 10A.

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of a sequencing batch reactor with coupled nitrification and nitrifier denitrification according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of a sequencing batch reactor which generates a storage polymer in an anaerobic phase and performs nitrification and denitrification in an aerobic period, according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of the invention employing nitrification and methane-driven or organic-driven denitrification.

FIG. 14 illustrates energy reactions which take place in the methane-driven or organic-driven denitrification taking place in the device of FIG. 13.

FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram of a micro-aerated bioreactor for simultaneous nitrification and denitrification according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIGS. 16A-C illustrate pathways used in an embodiment of the invention where abiotic Fe(II)-mediated reduction of nitrite to nitrous oxide.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION General Overview/Flowchart

An overview of a preferred embodiment of the invention is shown in the flowchart of FIG. 1. In step 100 nitrogen compounds from waste are processed in a bioreactor system to produce nitrous oxide. Optionally, in step 102 nitrous oxide product dissolved in effluent from the bioreactor is separated to increase the amount of gaseous phase nitrous oxide product. In step 104 the nitrous oxide is chemically reacted in gaseous phase using a hardware device coupled to the bioreactor system. In one configuration, the gaseous nitrous oxide is chemically decomposed to form oxygen and nitrogen gas. In this case, the oxygen may be optionally fed back to the bioreactor in step 106. Alternatively, the gaseous nitrous oxide may be an oxidant in a combustion reaction, in which case no oxygen is fed back.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a coupled bioreactor-catalytic converter system according to one embodiment of the invention. The system converts waste nitrogen into N₂O for thermal power generation and air for aeration, enabling a low-cost route for removal of soluble and reactive nitrogen species in wastewater, avoiding emissions of the powerful greenhouse gas N₂O, and producing oxygen that offsets part of the oxygen demand of waste treatment. The system includes a bioreactor 200 coupled to a catalytic converter device 202. Gas phase N₂O product from the bioreactor 200 is fed to the converter 202. In addition, N₂O dissolved in effluent from the bioreactor is passed through separator 204 to extract dissolved N₂O to produce increased gas phase N₂O which is sent to converter 202. In the converter 202 a catalytic decomposition of the N₂O takes place, producing nitrogen gas and oxygen gas. The oxygen may be fed back to the bioreactor 200 for use in its aerobic stage. In addition, thermal energy from the decomposition reaction in converter 202 may be used for power generation.

FIGS. 9A-C are schematic diagrams illustrating three different bioreactor-catalytic converter systems according to several embodiments of the invention. As shown in FIG. 9A, a waste stream 900 is pumped into a first aerobic reactor 902 operated with low dissolved oxygen for partial nitrification. The resulting effluent is pumped into a second anoxic reactor 904 for nitrifier denitrification, resulting in an effluent with dissolved N₂O. A gas stripper 906 uses N₂ carrier gas to remove N₂O from the aqueous effluent. The N₂ carrier gas is then passed through a molecular sieve 908 to remove the N₂O in gas phase, and the N₂ is recycled back to the gas stripper 906. The N₂O gas is then decomposed in catalytic decomposition cell 910 producing N₂, O₂, and energy. FIG. 9B shows an embodiment having a waste medium 950 fed through coupled dispersed bioreactors 952 and 954 as in FIG. 9A. N₂O gas from the second reactor 954 is fed to the catalytic decomposition cell 956 producing N₂, O₂, and energy. The effluent from the second stage reactor 954 passes through an ultrafiltration membrane module 958 to separate the effluent into a low N effluent and a concentrated organism effluent, a portion of which is recycled back to the first stage reactor 952. FIG. 9C shows an embodiment in which waste stream 980 enters attached growth bioreactors forming a reactor 982 with a lower oxic region and a higher anoxic region above which N₂O is collected and then fed to a catalytic decomposition cell 984. A recycling circuit takes effluent from the middle of the reactor 982 between oxic and anoxic regions and recirculates it back to the bottom inlet to the reactor, adding a saturated dissolved oxygen stock solution 986 and ammonium stock 988. The above designs are preferably equipped for temperature and pH control, using synthetic wastewater feed and dissolved oxygen supplied at carefully controlled low levels.

Nitrogen Sources/Applications

The nitrogen compounds entering and processed by the bioreactor may include organic nitrogen and/or reactive nitrogen (e.g., ammonium), such as is commonly found in wastewater, agricultural waste, fertilized agricultural soil, or landfill leachates. The nitrogen compounds may also be derived from biomass production of hydrocarbon fuels, diesel fuel, or ethanol.

Bioreactor Design, Organisms, Stages, and Reactions

In preferred embodiments, the bioreactor system is designed to enhance or maximize the production of nitrous oxide. Bioreactors according to the present invention are different from conventional designs where the focus is always on designing systems that minimize N₂O production and maximize N₂ production. In contrast, in embodiments of the present invention the production of N₂O is an end point for nitrifier denitrification or heterotrophic denitrification rather than the production of N₂. This is advantageous because, unlike N₂, N₂O can be thermally decomposed, releasing O₂ and heat.

The processing in the bioreactor system preferably includes nitrification and partial denitrification, or nitrifier denitrification. In one embodiment, the bioreactor is designed for nitrous oxide production by autotrophic nitrification-denitrification of ammonium at low levels of dissolved oxygen. The bioreactor system may have a single or multiple reaction stages. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, a first stage 206 of the bioreactor system is aerobic and a second stage 208 of the bioreactor system is anoxic. In various implementations, the second stage of the bioreactor system may be aerated to a dissolved oxygen level below 20% oxygen saturation, or below 3% oxygen saturation, or the second stage of the bioreactor system may be anaerobic.

FIG. 4 shows the energy reactions and organisms involved in aerobic nitrification-denitrification along with N₂O decomposition according to one embodiment. These pathways and organisms are preferably exploited in the bioreactor to maximize N₂O production. The process is also shown in FIG. 3C. AOB enrichment cultures may be derived directly from a local wastewater treatment plant, and other enrichments of AOA and AOB, including other AOB known to produce N₂O and also known to lack the gene needed for reduction of N₂O to N₂ may be grown in both pure and mixed cultures in a lab-scale bioreactor system. An example of such an organism is the recently sequenced Nitrosomonas europaea. More generally, the bioreactor may use communities of autotrophic microorganisms such as those capable of nitrifier denitrification, ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB), and/or ammonia oxidizing archaea (AOA). In other embodiments, the bioreactor may use communities of heterotrophic denitrifying microorganisms either alone or together with communities of autotrophic microorganisms.

Multiple designs for the bioreactor system may be used, including a sequencing batch reactor and an attached growth fluidized bed reactor. In one embodiment, two dispersed growth chemostat reactors are operated in series and equipped for temperature and pH control. As shown in FIG. 2, the first chemostat 206 is operated for partial nitrification (i.e., NO₂ ⁻ generation), while the downstream reactor 208 is optimized for maximal N₂O production via nitrifier-denitrification. Details of bioreactor design can be determined from a model of the bioreactor system that integrates reaction stoichiometry and energetics with chemostat mass balances and empirical kinetic coefficients.

For example, based on simulations performed with such a model, the first chemostat in the lab-scale system may initially be provided with high ammonium synthetic wastewater feed, representative of anaerobic digester supernatant or some industrial wastewaters. Low levels (˜1 mg/L) of dissolved oxygen (DO) may be maintained in this reactor to select against NOB. O₂ delivery may be accomplished using pressurized O₂ delivered through hollow fiber membranes. Optimal removal of nitrogen in the second reactor may use a NO₂ ⁻:NH4⁺ ratio in the effluent from the first reactor of approximately 2. A short and tightly controlled residence time (˜1.5 days) within the first reactor will enable selection for this ratio, based on the model. The downstream chemostat is operated anoxically, with a residence time of approximately 5 days, based on the model simulations, in order to maximize N₂O production while selecting against slow growing anammox bacteria. Process variables to be evaluated for this type of bioreactor system include NH₄ ⁺ loading rate, temperature (20-35), pH (6-8), DO, and hydraulic residence time in each reactor. Monitoring of community structure may be performed using periodic clone libraries and routine monitoring of terminal restriction fragment length polymorphisms and abundance of the same genes using known methods. Levels of NH4⁺ may be monitored with an NH4⁺ probe, and nitrite by ion chromatography. Gas phase N₂O production may be monitored using a gas displacement meter with off-line analysis of gas composition on a GC-ECD.

FIG. 10A is a schematic diagram of a hollow fiber membrane bioreactor design according to an embodiment of the invention. Ammonia removal from wastewater is accomplished in a hollow-fiber membrane bioreactor via a “short-circuit” nitrogen (N) removal bioprocess. O₂ or air is supplied to one end of the hollow fiber 1000. The process relies on O₂ transfer out of a hollow fiber to a surrounding biofilm composed of a mixed community of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria and archaea. Bulk wastewater (high NH₄ ⁺, low COD) flows past the nitrifying biofilm 1002. Oxygen is limited such that the bulk liquid and outer biofilm remain anoxic, and nitrite-oxidizing bacteria are outcompeted. NO₂ ⁻ thus initially accumulates. In plug flow operation, the downstream portion of the hollow fiber and the surrounding biofilm is O₂ poor. Nitrifier-denitrification promotes additional ammonia oxidization, with nitrite as the terminal electron acceptor, thus leading to N₂O accumulation. N₂O transfers to the lumen of the hollow fiber, replacing oxygen that has exited the fiber, and is captured for catalytic decomposition. High quality (low NH₄ ⁺) water is obtained at the reactor effluent. The resulting concentration profiles normal to the membrane wall are shown in FIG. 10B. This graph illustrates the variation in the concentration of products and reactants with respect to the longitudinal distance along the axis of the hollow fiber membrane bioreactor shown in FIG. 10A.

In another embodiment, FIG. 11 shows a sequencing batch reactor 1100 with coupled nitrification and nitrifier denitrification. Ammonia removal from wastewater is accomplished in a sequencing batch reactor (SBR) via a “short-circuit” nitrogen (N) removal bioprocess that alternates between two phases:

I. Anaerobic Phase: Partial nitrification (microbial oxidation of ammonia to nitrite with concomitant reduction of oxygen, as indicated) is promoted. This phase relies on the activity of a mixed community of naturally occurring ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and archaea (AOA). Nitrite oxidizing bacteria (NOB) are selected against in this phase via operation at elevated temperature and low dissolved oxygen (DO), thus preventing accumulation of nitrate. Residence time is designed such that about ⅔ of influent ammonia is oxidized to nitrite in this phase. In this anaerobic phase for partial nitrification, NH₄ ⁺+1.50₂=>NO₂ ⁻+H₂O+2H⁺.

II. Low Oxygen Phase: While nitrite is typically the end product of microbial ammonia oxidation, under certain conditions (notably low DO), at least some AOB (and possibly AOA) are capable of generating N₂O, with nitrite as their terminal electron acceptor-in effect, “breathing” nitrite via the “nitrifier-denitrification” pathway. Phase II of the SBR operation takes advantage of this metabolism to promote N₂O generation from the remaining unoxidized ammonia, thereby reducing nitrite accumulated in phase. Aeration is decreased to low levels, ideally just enough to permit oxidation of ammonia to hydroxylamine: NH₃+0.5O₂=NH₂OH. This is followed by oxidation of hydroxylamine with coupled reduction of nitrite to nitrous oxide: NH₂OH+HNO₂=N₂O+2H₂O. These conditions of low oxygen are maintained to promote maximum production of N₂O. The two reactor phases are followed by a gas separation step and catalytic N₂O decomposition. Per standard operating procedures for SBRs, high quality (low NH₄ ⁺) effluent is drawn off of the reactor after a biomass settling period. In this anoxic phase for nitrifier denitrification, NH₄ ⁺+2NO₂ ⁻+H⁺=>⅚H₂O+1.5N₂O.

FIG. 12 illustrates another embodiment using a sequencing batch reactor 1200. In this embodiment, during an anaerobic phase there is selection for glycogen accumulating organisms (GAOs), generating a PHB storage polymer. In an aerobic period, nitrification and denitrification take place, with the PHB polymer acting as an electron donor for the denitrification as will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. 15, below.

FIG. 13 illustrates another embodiment in which organic materials act as electron donors. In a first reactor 1302 operated anaerobically, methane is produced in both gaseous and dissolved forms. The effluent from this reactor flows into a second reactor 1300 where nitrification and methane-driven denitrification take place, producing N₂O and CH₄ gas. Other organics may also be used as electron donors in analogous embodiments, in which partial denitrification follows the pathway shown in FIG. 14.

Effluent methane concentrations of 10-15 mg/L are typical, constituting about 40-60 mg COD as CH₄/L. For typical sewage, this means as much as 20% of total BOD can leave the system as dissolved methane. Ammonium (NH₄ ⁺) is also a major component in the effluent of anaerobic reactors. This embodiment provides a system for the removal of nitrogen and soluble organic carbon from the effluent of an anaerobic reactor. In this design, the second reactor 1300 is aerated to maintain low concentrations of dissolved oxygen (DO). Dissolved gaseous products from the microbial transformation of NH₄ ⁺ are stripped from the second reactor and captured in a decomposition cell.

The second reactor 1300 combines multiple microbial processes with different metabolic requirements. One pathway involves the metabolism of methanotrophic organisms, which generate energy by oxidation of methane to carbon dioxide (CO₂). The first step in the oxidation of methane is carried out by the enzyme methane monooxygenase (mmo). In another pathway, the metabolism of ammonia oxidizing microorganisms that carry out nitrification takes place. The enzyme, ammonia monooxygenase (amo), a structurally similar protein to mmo, catalyzes the first step in the oxidation of NH₄ ⁺. The bottom pathway involves denitrification, a microbial process in which nitrate (NO₃ ⁻) or nitrite (NO₂) is reduced to N₂ gas, with nitric oxide (NO) and nitrous oxide (N₂O) as intermediate products. Some denitrifying organisms, which may be numerically dominant within a denitrifying reactor, carry out partial denitrification, such that N₂O (and not N₂) is the final product of metabolism.

There is overlap in the metabolic reactions of methanotrophic, nitrifying, and denitrifying microorganisms. For instance, the second pathway describes the possible co-metabolism of NH₄ ⁺ by methantrophic organisms. Due to relaxed substrate specificity, the mmo enzyme has been shown to oxidize NH₄ ⁺ as well as its intended target CH₄. The result of this co-metabolic transformation is hydroxylamine, the desired substrate for N₂O formation when coupled with nitrite reduction. Methanotrophs are unable to extract energy from the oxidation of NH₄ ⁺.

Ammonia oxidizing organisms can co-metabolize methane. This methanol is also a potential source of electrons for partial denitrification to produce N₂O. Under oxygen limiting conditions, other soluble products of methanotrophic metabolism, such as acetate, can also form and may serve as electron donors. In sum, the system described in FIG. 13 is to be optimized for the removal of dissolve methane and conversion of NH₄ ⁺ to N₂O.

FIG. 15 shows another embodiment which employs a micro-aerated bioreactor 1500 for simultaneous nitrification and denitrification (SND). This figure illustrates describes nitrification-denitrification in which two different microbial processes (involving two distinct groups of organisms) occur simultaneously within a single reactor. In some other embodiments, the conversion of ammonia to nitrous oxide relies exclusively on ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB). By contrast, a SND reactor achieves the same transformation of nitrogen, but makes use of both autotrophic nitrifying and heterotrophic denitrifying organisms. Intracellular storage polymers (e.g., glycogen or polyhydroxybutyrate) provide the reducing equivalents needed for partial denitrification of nitrite to N₂O. SND reactors can function under a number of operational configurations. For instance, SND can occur in a sequencing batch reactor, where operational conditions shift between oxic and anoxic conditions. SND may also occur when oxygen remains present in the bulk reactor liquid. Bacteria in a reactor can clump into flocs, introducing mass transfer limitations. Oxygen concentration gradients formed within the microbial floc create a niche for denitrifying organisms within an aerated reactor. Nitrous oxide can be produced as a product of both processes. SND may be successfully combined with other nutrient removal strategies such as phosphorous removal. In these combined processes high levels of partial denitrification (emission of N₂O instead of N₂) may be observed. Furthermore, high levels of N₂O emission in nitrifying and denitrifying reactors may take place under dynamic process controls cycling between oxic and anoxic conditions. Such a scheme is shown in FIG. 12.

Iron

In some embodiments of the invention, the reactors use alternative processes to perform partial reduction of nitrite to nitrous oxide (N₂O) in gas and aqueous phase. According to one embodiment, the processing of the nitrogen compounds to produce the nitrous oxide may include abiotic Fe(II)-mediated reduction of nitrite to the nitrous oxide and Fe(III); and regenerating Fe(II) from Fe(III) using iron-reducing bacteria. Abiotic Fe(II)-mediated reduction of nitrite to N₂O. As depicted in FIG. 16A, AOB ammonia oxidation takes place in step 1600, followed by abiotic nitrous oxide outgas in step 1602. In step 1604 residual nitrous oxide is stripped using nitrogen gas, and the nitrous oxide from steps 1602 and 1604 are fed to catalytic decomposition reactor 1606 where energy is produced along with nitrogen and oxygen gas, which are fed back to steps 1604 and 1600, respectively. FIG. 16B illustrates ammonia oxidation by AOB in step 1600, while FIG. 16C illustrates step 1602 where Fe(II) reacts with nitrite to produce N₂O and Fe(III). Iron-reducing bacteria, such as Geobacter or Methanotrophs can couple oxidation of carbon containing compounds, such as acetate or methane, to reduction of Fe(III), thereby regenerating the Fe(II). Alternatively, waste Fe(II) may be added as a process input. FeCl₂ is a waste product of the steel industry, termed “spent pickle liquor”, and already used in many wastewater treatment facilities for phosphate removal.

In another embodiment, the reduction of nitrite to nitrous oxide (N₂O) may include microbial reduction of nitrite to nitrous oxide using organics as an electron donor, e.g., using acetate or polydroxyalkanoate granules from Alcaligenes faecalis. This approach exploits the capability of Alcaligenes faecalis and related organisms to reduce nitrite to N₂O using acetate or polydroxyalkanoate granules as the electron donor.

As another alternative, the processing in the bioreactor system of the nitrogen compounds to produce the nitrous oxide may include microbial oxidation of ammonia coupled to Fe(III)-reduction followed by abiotic reaction of nitrite with Fe(II) to nitrous oxide, e.g., using Feammox bacteria to couple ammonium oxidation to nitrite with reduction of Fe(II) to Fe(III). This approach involves microbial oxidation of ammonia with coupled to Fe(III) reduction followed by abiotic reaction of nitrite with Fe(II) to N₂O. This approach enables production of N₂O without oxidation of organic matter, increasing the organic matter that may be converted to methane in an upstream anaerobic process.

The above two embodiments involving iron may also provide the benefit that they remove phosphorus as iron precipitate (FePO₄) and improve metals removal through sorption or co-precipitation with Fe(III) solids. These embodiments take advantage of the fact that Fe (II) species react abiotically with nitrite to form nitrous oxide. The coupled oxidation of ferrous iron with nitrite reduction results in ferric iron precipitate. Reduction of ferric iron back into ferrous iron may be used to establish an iron cycle in the system and avoid the need for external input of Fe(II). One method for establishing a ferric/ferrous iron cycle is the embodiment described above in which iron reducing organisms are used to regenerate Fe(II). These organisms are fast growing, highly robust, and well characterized. In this configuration, part of the soluble COD effluent from primary treatment could be used as reducing power for ferric reduction. This configuration would enable batch operation with a two-step cycle: (1) ferric iron reduction to ferrous iron followed by (2) ferrous iron oxidation with nitrite reduction to nitrous oxide. The other embodiment above can also maintain an iron cycle by reducing ferric iron with ammonia oxidation with use of the Feammox organisms. Furthermore, ammonia oxidation couple to ferric iron reduction is thermodynamically favorable at typical pH values and reactant concentrations when ferrous iron concentration is low. This strategy is simpler and uses no COD; freeing up additional COD for methane production and enabling nitrite conversion to nitrous oxide in a single step.

Separation and Concentration of Nitrous Oxide

The nitrous oxide product from the bioreactor may be processed in various ways prior to chemically reacting in gas phase in the hardware device. Under the high influent NH4⁺ levels in this type of bioreactor system, a high vapor pressure of N₂O (50.8 atm at 20° C.) is expected to enable direct capture of N₂O from the headspace of the second chemostat for decomposition and power generation. However, due to the relatively high solubility of N₂O in water (1.08 g/l at 25° C. and 1 atm) it may be desirable to include a separation mechanism 204 to promote near-complete partitioning of dissolved N₂O from the aqueous effluent to increase the portion of gas phase N₂O. Consequently, the method may include using a separator (204, FIG. 2) for separating a portion of the nitrous oxide that is dissolved in aqueous effluent from the bioreactor to increase an amount of gas phase of the nitrous oxide product to provide efficient mass transfer of biologically produced N₂O from aqueous to a contained gas phase. Various techniques may be used to accomplish this end. For example, a small gas stripping column 500 may be used, as shown in FIG. 5A. In the column, N₂ carrier gas bubbles 502 are introduced to the solution containing dissolved N₂O 504. The N₂ bubbles 502 strip the N₂O 504 from the solution and the N₂/N₂O gas mixture 506 may then be captured as the bubbles emerge from the top of the column. At 25° C., gas-phase N₂O can be separated from N₂ carrier gas by a molecular sieve, and N₂ gas may be recycled back to form new bubbles at the bottom of the stripping column. Alternatively, a separator may be implemented using vacuum separation from the second chemostat reactor, as shown in cross-sectional view in FIG. 5B. A central column 510 with a vacuum is separated a permeable membrane 512 selective for N₂O from an annular column 514 containing effluent with dissolved N₂O 516. Through pervaporation, dissolved N₂O is directly extracted from the effluent as it passes through the membrane 512 and into the central column 510.

In some embodiments, it may be desirable to concentrate the amount of the gas phase nitrous oxide in the gas stream prior to entering the chemical reactor. For example, FIG. 6 shows one possible implementation of a device for concentrating N₂O in a gas stream. The device has a chamber 600 divided into upper and lower subchambers by a selective membrane 602. A mixture of N₂O and N₂ enters the upper subchamber through a port 604 and exits through a port 606. N₂O gas in the upper subchamber selectively passes through the membrane 602 into the lower subchamber and exits through port 608, producing a concentrated stream of N₂O gas. The N₂O can alternatively be concentrated using various other techniques.

Decomposition of Nitrous Oxide Gas

In a preferred embodiment, the gaseous nitrous oxide is decomposed to produce nitrogen gas and oxygen gas in the hardware reactor device designed to operate at the outlet conditions of the bioreactor. The decomposition may be performed in various ways such as catalytically, thermally by external heating, or through exothermic decomposition. This decomposition reaction, when combined with the N₂O generating bioreactor system in embodiments of the invention, produce a new source of renewable energy and, since the product of the decomposition reaction is oxygen-enriched air, this energy is generated with zero production of greenhouse gas. Moreover, the O₂ product from the nitrous oxide decomposition can be recycled back to the bioreactor system, off-setting a significant fraction of the oxygen demand for the partial ammonia oxidation needed to produce N₂O from ammonia.

The global decomposition reaction for N₂O is exothermic. The energy diagram for the reaction N₂O→>½O₂+N₂+82 kJ is shown in FIG. 7. This decomposition reaction reaches appreciable rates at temperatures over 850° C. and is initiated by an activation energy of approximately 250 kJ/mol. However, this activation energy can be significantly reduced in the presence of a metal catalyst such as rhodium and/or very lean concentrations of methane. It should be noted that small amounts of hydrocarbon or hydrogen in N₂O can greatly increase the rate of decomposition. A properly designed and well-characterized system can safely operate with very lean amounts of methane. Furthermore, the presence of very lean methane concentrations significantly increases the kinetics of N₂O decomposition.

In case the decomposition of the nitrous oxide is performed catalytically, the decomposition may be performed as shown in FIG. 8 by flowing a gas stream containing a suitably high concentration of gaseous nitrous oxide through a chamber 800 containing a catalyst 802, e.g., deposited on spherical particles made of a catalyst support. Once the reaction is started, the energy released is used to keep the catalyst material hot to sustain the reaction. Excess energy may be extracted as heat for power generation, e.g., using a Sterling cycle heat engine. If the concentration of the nitrogen is not sufficiently high, however, the catalyst material may need to be heated externally to sustain the decomposition reaction. An N₂O decomposition device appropriate for use in embodiments of the present invention is preferably capable of sustaining stable and continuous operation in a hot oxidizing environment while minimizing thermal degradation of housing walls. The chamber 800 may be made of a high-temperature ceramic or high-temperature alloy. The catalyst 802 may be a metal or metal oxide, such as a transition metal or transition metal oxide. Catalysts include rhodium, rhodium oxide, iron, or iron oxide. Catalyst supports may include gamma phase aluminum oxide, zeolites, or a high surface area ceramic. Some embodiments of the hardware reactor device may include a built-in ceramic glow plug for preheating the catalyst bed, a Hastelloy-X chamber for high temperature oxidation resistance, and a ceramic yttria-stabilized zirconia aft catalyst bed support. Embodiments may employ high temperature resistant refractory ceramics, such as ceramic matrix composite (CMC) aluminum oxide, that ensure long operational lifetimes with minimal structural degradation. Very lean concentrations of methane may be introduced into the decomposition chamber to increase the decomposition kinetics of N₂O and help maintain decomposition at very low flow rates. Thermal insulation of the device chamber, e.g., with aluminum oxide layers, may be used to minimize decomposition heat loss. Multiple nano-layered coatings may be used to further reduce the thermal conductivity of the insulating material.

In one embodiment, a dilute catalytic decomposition is performed with a small amount of N₂O gas mixed with N₂ gas, e.g., 2% and 98%, respectively. The chamber 800 is heated, e.g., by wrapping it in heat tape, and the spherical particles are porous to present to the N₂O a large and hot catalytic surface area. Alternatively, with a very high (e.g., above 90%) concentration of incoming N₂O gas, a self-sustaining catalytic decomposition may take place, without the use of heat tape or other external heating.

Combustion with Nitrous Oxide Gas as Oxidant or Co-oxidant

In some embodiments of the invention, rather than decomposing the nitrous oxide in the hardware reactor device, it may be used instead as an oxidant or co-oxidant in a combustion reaction, e.g., in the combustion of methane or other fuel. For example, CH₄₊4N₂O=>CO₂+2H₂O+N₂+heat.

Advantages, Wastewater Treatment Example

Embodiments of the invention have numerous advantages over prior methods. 1. This technology could triple the amount of methane that can be recovered at a treatment plant. For municipal sewage, this could be up to about 0.1 L of methane gas per liter of wastewater treated. In contrast to the conventional method of nitrogen removal which uses waste organics for reducing power, the present technology uses ammonia instead of organic matter. Consequently, much more organic matter is available for methane production.

2. The amount of O₂ used for nitrification is 60% less that than required by conventional methods. This reduction is significant because aeration is about 50% of the operational costs of a treatment plant.

3. Waste biomass is significantly decreased because heterotrophic denitrification, a process that produces considerable biomass, is no longer necessary. Disposal of waste biomass is the second greatest operational expense at treatment plants.

4. A well-known anaerobic ammonia oxidation technology recently developed at Delft University relies upon anammox bacteria. These are very slow-growing bacteria, and as a result, the reactors are slow to start up, and slow to fix when upset. The organisms used in the present technology, in contrast, are more robust and have shorter doubling times.

5. The small size of the nitrous decomposition reactors is well-suited for compact distributed operation of wastewater systems.

6. Emissions of greenhouse gas N₂O are eliminated through a process that creates an economic incentive for N₂O production and capture—like processes for production and capture of the greenhouse gas methane.

Embodiments of the invention have the potential to dramatically change domestic and industrial wastewater treatment and nitrogen management in landfill leachates. In addition, they can also impact biomass production of biodiesel, ethanol, and other fuels. In these processes, fuels must be separated from nitrogen-containing biomass, which then becomes waste. Conversion of the waste nitrogen to nitrous oxide enables power production, avoids greenhouse gas emissions, and prevents discharge of other harmful forms of nitrogen.

To illustrate the advantages, consider the Palo Alto Water Quality Control Plant as an example of the potential energy benefits to implementing this technology. An estimated 2000 kg of N₂O could potentially be produced per day by this plant if the treatment plant bioreactors were operated so as to maximize N₂O production. This rate of production (23 grams/sec) of N₂O would generate 43 kW. To put this in perspective, an average home consumes approximately 7 kW-hr per day. Assuming an energy conversion efficiency of 30%, the 43 kW generated by the decomposition of N₂O could power approximately 40 homes. The reactor needed to accomplish this rate of decomposition would only be three to four times the size of the ones developed to date. This translates into even bigger energy generation in wastewater treatment plants such as San Jose where it is estimated that N₂O production via microbial processes could be 10 times greater than that of Palo Alto. The above energy benefits only address the energy available in the nitrogen. Additional energy benefits would derive from the fact that this process, if coupled to methane fermentation for carbon removal, could avoid use of organic matter as a supply of reducing power, thereby allowing increased production of methane. For typical sewage, three times more methane could potentially be generated compared to the conventional wastewater treatment process. Nor does the above energy analysis include the benefit resulting from a significant reduction in oxygen from coupled methane fermentation for carbon removal and N₂O production/decomposition for nitrogen removal. Carried out on a large scale, this technology can be a significant source of renewable energy. 

1. A method for nitrogen removal, the method comprising: a) pumping a waste stream into a bioreactor system, wherein the waste stream comprises nitrogen compounds; b) processing in the bioreactor system the nitrogen compounds to produce nitrous oxide; c) forming a nitrous oxide gas stream from the produced nitrous oxide; d) chemically reacting the nitrous oxide gas stream in a hardware reactor device coupled to the bioreactor system.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein the bioreactor system has multiple reaction stages.
 3. The method of claim 1 wherein a first stage of the bioreactor system is aerobic and a second stage of the bioreactor system is anoxic.
 4. The method of claim 1 wherein the processing in the bioreactor system comprises coupled partial nitrification and nitrifier denitrification.
 5. The method of claim 1 wherein the bioreactor is a hollow-fiber membrane bioreactor.
 6. The method of claim 1 wherein the bioreactor is a sequencing batch reactor. wherein the bioreactor is operated in an anaerobic period and an aerobic period, wherein the anaerobic period comprises selection for organisms that generate intracellular storage products (e.g., glycogen and PHB).
 7. The method of claim 1 wherein the bioreactor is a micro-aerated bioreactor performing simultaneous nitrification and denitrification.
 8. The method of claim 1 wherein the bioreactor performs nitrification and methane-driven denitrification.
 9. The method of claim 1 wherein processing in the bioreactor system the nitrogen compounds to produce the nitrous oxide comprises abiotic Fe(II)-mediated reduction of nitrite to the nitrous oxide and Fe(III); and regenerating Fe(II) from Fe(III) using iron-reducing bacteria.
 10. The method of claim 1 wherein processing in the bioreactor system the nitrogen compounds to produce the nitrous oxide comprises microbial reduction of nitrite to nitrous oxide using organics as an electron donor; e.g., using acetate or polydroxyalkanoate granules from Alcaligenes faecalis.
 11. The method of claim 1 wherein processing in the bioreactor system the nitrogen compounds to produce the nitrous oxide comprises microbial oxidation of ammonia coupled to Fe(III)-reduction followed by abiotic reaction of nitrite with Fe(II) to nitrous oxide, e.g., using Feammox bacteria to couple ammonium oxidation to nitrite with reduction of Fe(III) to Fe(II).
 12. The method of claim 1 wherein the nitrous oxide is decomposed catalytically to produce oxygen gas and nitrogen gas.
 13. The method of claim 1 wherein oxygen gas product from the nitrous oxide reaction is recycled to the bioreactor system.
 14. The method of claim 1 wherein the reacting the nitrous oxide comprises thermally decomposing the nitrous oxide by external heating, decomposing the nitrous oxide through exothermic decomposition, using the nitrous oxide as an oxidant in a combustion reaction, or using the nitrous oxide as co-oxidant in a combustion reaction. 